HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: These guys are earning way too much money and it's just that simple.

This is the list of the overpaid and the underachievers. Some of these players are very good players, but that doesn't mean for a second they aren't getting way over paid for their production levels. This is the 2012-2013 top 5 most overrated players based on their performance and earnings this season.

After five games, the Lakers brass fired Mike Brown. But before he got fired, they forced him to employ the "Princeton Offense," an offense that never got properly instituted because of injuries to nearly every key player in the preseason. Brown was out, but who would replace him? For several days, Phil Jackson was going to be re-hired, it looked like a foregone conclusion. But under the cover of night, late on a Sunday evening, the Lakers announced they would hire D'Antoni instead. As the season has now almost completely played itself out, they couldn't have been any worse if they would've just retained Bernie Bickerstaff for the entire season, who won four of his five games as head coach.

Injuries

Every significant player on the team was injured at some point this season. Steve Nash, Kobe, Dwight Howard, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol- and those are just the starters. The bench was equally ravaged. Robert Sacre, Devin Ebanks, Jordan Hill, Steve Blake; and that's the short list. No wonder they haven't had any chemistry all year.

Lack Of Pau Gasol

Gasol's head wasn't right all season. And yours wouldn't have been either if your name was Pau Gasol. No one has taken more of a beating for being "soft". But if he was soft, Gasol wouldn't have two rings and a slew of all-star appearances. So what does he get for his trouble? He gets benched for Earl Clark by D'Antoni, who was trying to assert his power to "motivate" Gasol. That was a "bass-akward" thing to do. To make it worse, D'Antoni did it when the Lakers rotation was being held together with duct tape. If he was healthy, the Lakers should've squeezed every last second out of him.

Where Was "Ron Ron" All Year?

I get that "Ron Ron" has decided to completely give up on scoring. I get that he fancies himself a lockdown one on one defender. But for a guy who has scored over 20+ ppg in his career, for him to not be more involved offensively (and I don't mean hoisting up three's from the corner, which has become his signature offensive move), I mean getting involved and productive when the team needed him. He didn't, so Kobe had to carry the squad, and still is, like always.

Dwight Howard Saga

I don't care what Howard's numbers are, or if Andrew Bynum missed the entire season- Howard killed the Lakers with his endless, me first drama. It started before he got traded to LA, then continued once he arrived because of "injuries" and a bunch of other excuses. Dwight Howard is a drama queen and softer than Pau Gasol- FACT.

Lebron James shared a few thoughts about NBA team owners via Twitter earlier today in light of hearing the news regarding the sale of the Sacramento Kings.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Players like Lebron are going to speak their mind from time to time.

Tonight at the stroke of midnight EST, the free agent feeding frenzy will begin.

HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Some long running questions about some big names and their destination for next season will finally be answered.

- Where will Steve Nash finally end up?

For two years we've been hearing Nash's name in about every conceivable trade scenario; and nothing ever happened. The Suns drafting of Kendall Marshall this week says a lot about how interested the organization is in bringing Nash back. Also, their supposed interest in Eric Gordon is another nail in the coffin that was Nash's time in Phoenix

- Where will Deron WIlliams go?

No matter where he ends up, will he finally play for a title contender? Mired in both Utah and New Jersey in his career, D WIll has been one of the NBA's most productive PG's. But can he lead a winner? Or will he forever be a great individual talent on bad teams?

HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Gasol will not return next year as a Laker.

Pau Gasol's duties with the Los Angeles Lakers officially ended on Wednesday. The question that remains is whether this is the end of the line for Gasol in LA. He struggled through trade rumors earlier in the year when it looked like the Lakers were going to acquire Chris Paul, but after those negotiations fell apart, Gasol position on the team was never quite the same.

Overpaid, underproductive and unmotivated. At points in the 2011-12 season, all three of these words have been used to describe both Pau Gasol and Carlos Boozer.

HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Who agreed to pay them this much?

Both are power forwards. Both are amongst the highest paid players in the league; Gasol at $18.7 million ranks seventh while Boozer ranks 25th pocketing $13.55 million this year. Both players should be their team’s #2 scoring threat.

Neither player has been asked to carry the load this season- just serve as a complementary, consistent piece that can be relied on when the team’s star (Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant) is hurt or less than productive.

Prior to this year, there is no comparing the careers of this two players- Gasol has two rings and the production to surpass Boozer. But what makes them similar this season is how bad their teams have needed them. And at certain points, neither player has delivered.

After an underwhelming regular season which saw Boozer set career lows in most major categories, he followed that up with an even worse series against the Sixers. With no Rose, the Bulls needed Boozer to earn his money and produce for the remainder of the series, and he didn’t, contributing three points and one made field goal in a one point loss that ended the Bulls season.

Gasol stepped up in a game seven victory versus the Nuggets in round one with 23 points and 17 rebounds, but in the six games prior he averaged just nine ppg and 6.5 rpg. His lack of production was a huge factor in why the series even went seven games.

If you don’t get Gasol involved early, just like with Boozer, you may get nothing out of him that night. And more than any season prior, when Gasol isn’t involved in the low post game he drifts further and further out of the lane, content to settle for shots 15 feet away and beyond. Gasol has the touch to make more of those shots than the average seven footer, but why when he can be a complete beast in the paint, especially alongside Andrew Bynum?

Is Gasol to blame for the game one loss to OKC? Absolutely not. But what happened to the guy who put up 20 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists against the Thunder in a double OT win less than a month ago? The Lakers need him to show up ASAP, or their season is over, just like Carlos Boozer’s.